Garment-supporter.



PATENTBD PEB. 24, 1903.

R.. .m MR IO KD.. NP UU HS. WN..A AF. WR. A auA 'APPLIUATION FILED 822119, 1902.

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UNITED STATESI PATENT OFFICE.

' WILLIAM S. HUN-KINS, OF MERRIAM PARK, MINNESOTA.

GARM ENT-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 721,305, dated February 24, 1903. Application filed September l9, 1902.` Serial No. 124.062. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. HUNKIN's, a citizen of the United States, residing at Merriam Park, Ramsey county, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Supporters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in garment-supporters, and particularly `to that class ad-apted to support a skirt or trousers at the waist.

The object of myinvention is to provide a satisfactory means for supporting the nether garment in a simple manner, so that it may be readily and quickly attached-and detached when desired. The structure is of such a nature, as will be seen on inspection of the accompanying drawings and by the description hereinafter, that it may be worn underneath a shirt, a waist, or similar garment and while supporting the nether garment at the same time holding the upper garment securely in place and that, too, without the necessity of any alteration in structure of the upper gar.- ment or additional pins, buttons, dac., other than the ordinary buttons which, are sewed on or secured to the upper inner edge of the nether garment. f

It consists in providing a pair of suitable Suspenders, braces, or shoulder-straps with terminal devices which are adapted to be readily attached to an ordinary button. In addition the device'is used in connection with an auxiliary band or belt for the purpose of positioning the extremities of the suspenders.

These terminal devices are so formed as to loeY readily adjustable upon the belt to accommodate them to the proper distances between the supporting-buttons.i

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents in perspective a garmentsupporter embodying the 'improvements of my invention. Fig. 2 is a detailed elevation of the terminal attaching device. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of those parts shown in Fig. 2.- Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the same detail with the adjacent parts ot' a garment secured in place.

In Fig. l I have designated the main members of the supporting device by the reference-letter A. The lower front ends are bifurcated, as is customary in Suspenders of this general type, to form the members A A. It will be obvious, however, that Suspenders having a sin gle rather than a bifurcated front supporting member may be used, if desired.

B is a belt or band adapted to encircle the waist of a person and to which the Suspenders Aare attached by the terminal devices. These attaching devices are formed, as will be particularly seen on inspection of Fig. 2, of a bar C, a plate-like member D, and a buttonholeloop E. The bar C, as herein shown, is merely a short loop of wire, through which the end of the suspender member passes. The plate D, which has two slots separated by a strip d, is carried by the bar C and preferably hinged thereto. The belt-B passesthrough the slots in the plate. The buttonhole-loop E is also hinged to the bar C. All three portions of the attaching device C, D, and E when free to move upon each other and upon the end of the suspender members A A will accommodate themselves freely to the condition under which they are Worn. It will be noted also that the plate D is so formed that its position upon the beltB maybe shifted as desired by simply pulling it one way or the other.

The buttonhole-loop E is formed with an enlarged central portion of a size sufficient to pass' easily over an ordinary button. The lower end of this loop atY c is contracted in width, but is of a size sufficient to permit the shank of a button and a certain amount of lcloth material or fabric to pass Withinthe Vbetween the contracted portion c and the buttonto be used that friction will exist between the inside edges of the loop and the outside of the shank or threaded portion of the button when attaching the device.l As the loop E is formed,preferably,0f wire,a considerable degree of spring effect will be found to exist at the throat of the contracted portion, so that while the shank of the button or the attaching-thread vand the cloth wrapped around the same maypass through `'the contracted portion with some resistance it will be held free and less likely to injure the fabric when the shank and button have been pulled down into the end of the loop.

In Fig. 4 I have shown in a manner somewhat diagrammatic thedevice as in use,in which represents a portion of the fabric as IOO caught up and held over the button II by the loop E. As the fabric F is held between the shank or fastening portion of the button and the loop E, the upper garment will be held in place at the same time that the nether garment G is supported. That this is advantageous will be readily understood.

Upon inspection of Figs. 3 and 4 it will be seen that I have constructed the button-loop E in such a manner that the lower part of the same lies in a somewhat different plane than the upper portion. The purpose of this is that when the device is being brought into use in attaching it to a button on the upper inside edge of the nether garment the button may slip readily into place in the enlarged portion of the loop preparatory to drawing it down into the lower contracted portion. In Fig. 4 it will be noted that when the parts are in their final resting position the lower contracted portion of the loop E lies in a plane nearly parallel to the direction of pull upon the suspender member A. The bar C and the loop E of the attaching device are preferably formed of brass wire, while the plate D is of suitable thin metal. All three of these parts I prefer shall be plated with nickel or some other non-corrosive substance. The straps and belt may be made of webbing of a suitable weight and elastic, if desired.

To make use of my improved garment-supporter, the Suspenders should be placed over the shoulders in the usual manner and the belt B buckled to a suitable tension. The attaching devices may then be adjusted in position on the belt B to correspond with the buttons on the nether garment. The suspenders may of course be adjusted to any length, as is usual in articles of this character. When the upper garment, shirt, or the like is then put on, the attaching device may be easily located and the buttons inserted into the upper enlarged portion of the loops E. The button on entering theloop of course carries with it a portion of the fabric of the skirt,

waist, or the like and is drawn down with it into the contracted portion of the loop. The garmentsupporter,it will be seen, is therefore complete in itself and requires no additional supporting device of any character.

What I claim is- 1. A garment-supporter comprising a pair of Suspenders, a belt, means carried by said Suspenders for slidably engaging said belt and means carried by said Suspenders for detachably engaging a button, substantially as described.

2. A garment-supporter comprising a flexible belt, plates having slots for slidably engaging said belt and button-supporting loops hinged and movable relatively to said plates, substantially as described.

3. An attaching device of the character described comprising a belt, a slotted plate slidably engaging said belt, a button-holdingloop hinged and movable relatively to said plate, said loop having a contracted lower portion relatively smaller than its central portion, substantially as described.

4. A garment-supporter comprising a pair of Suspenders, bars C, C, carried by the ends of the members thereof, and buttonhole-loops E, E, carried by said bars, substantially as described, with the lower contracted portion lying in a plane making an acute angle with the plane of the main body portion.

5. A garment-supporter comprising supporting-straps adapted to be worn over the shoulders, a belt adapted to be Worn about the waist, means for attaching said straps to said belt and means fordetachably engagingabutton said button-engaging means being also carried by said straps.

Signed at Minneapolis, Minnesota, this 16th day of September, 1902.

WILLIAM S. IIUNKINS.

Vitnesses:

F. V. LINDsEY, H. A. STRONG. 

